PHL shares decline 1.35% on profit-taking

Profit-taking took its toll on Philippine share prices in thin trading Tuesday, cued by weak overseas markets. The main Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 57 points or 1.35 percent to close at 4,157.26. More than 4.840 billion shares valued at P3.704 billion were traded. The PSEi hit the immediate resistance at 4,200, so ‘this is a healthy correction cued by the decline of New York and European stocks," BDO Securities Inc. trader Jasper Jimenez told GMA News Online after Tuesday’s session. “There is no real negative news on the local front that would impact on the market. This is profit-taking," Jimenez added. Last week’s news that the Philippine government and private institutions have revised their forecast to reflect a slower economy in gross domestic product term has already been factored in and did not seem to impact the market much, the BDO trader said. The P72-billion fiscal stimulus packaged announced by the Aquino administration is actually good news, he added. Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 246.58 points, or 2.12 percent, at 11,397.91, according to a Reuters report. Philippine shares that dropped during Tuesday’s session outnumbered gainers 108 to 37 and 30 issue closed unchanged. — TJD, GMA News